1851 - The Treaty of Fort Laramie - permanently recognized the right of Plains Indians to a huge swath of land in Colorado and Kansas in return for allowing safe passage to wagon trains headed for California and Oregon

1861 - Colorado becomes a U.S. Territory

1861 - The Treaty of Fort Wise - severely restricted the land designated for the Cheyenne and Arapaho people

1864 - "The Colorado War" breaks out

Brief Profile of Arapaho Chief Left Hand (Niwot)…advocate for peace, family intermarried with Americans, spoke a number of languages, joined a wagon train

1864 - Nov. 29, Colorado troops attacked Cheyenne and Arapaho village near Eads, Colo., killing 200. Left Hand killed. Now known as the Sand Creek Massacre. Soon after, the Arapaho and Cheyenne people who made their home at times near Broomfield were relocated --- the Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho to Indian Territory (Oklahoma), the Northern Arapaho to Wyoming, and the Northern Cheyenne to Montana.